Best Independent Coffee Roasters in Memphis, Tennessee (2026)
Memphis's roasters are spread across the city rather than clustered: a Pinch District roastery that also cans coffee soda, a Mitchell Heights roaster with an Ethiopia to Memphis supply chain, a roast-to-order operation inside a music venue, and wholesale and online roasters in the southeast industrial blocks. Stated founding years run from 2018 to 2019, with one operation that traces to a two-decade-old brand.
We've mapped the active independent coffee roasters listed under Memphis as of September 2026. Every fact below comes from the roaster's own website, with at most one press source per roaster cited inline. Where a site does not state something (a founding year, a roasting machine, a street address), this guide does not state it either. One listed business, an office coffee service whose site does not state that it roasts, is left out. The orbit section covers two roasters in Arlington, about 20 kilometers northeast.
Downtown and the Pinch District
Comeback Coffee
Comeback Coffee describes itself as a micro-roaster based in Memphis, roasting light to medium profiles at what it calls Comeback HQ, its manufacturing facility, offices, and roastery. The company was founded in 2019 and roasts on a Diedrich IR5 in an industrial building in the Pinch District (per Daily Coffee News). Alongside whole bean, Comeback makes canned coffee soda in two flavors, Field Day and Southern Style, and canned carbonated water, and names Catalyst, Cofinet, and Forest Coffee as exporter partners. It sells online nationwide, with free shipping above a threshold, and wholesale to cafes and grocery stores. The downtown cafe on North Main Street closed in March 2025 while roasting and canning continued (per the Daily Memphian).
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Mitchell Heights
Cxffeeblack
Cxffeeblack was founded in 2019 by Bartholomew Jones and Renata Henderson, per its About page, which describes the company as a community-oriented, multi-disciplinary, education-based coffee company. The site states it opened its global roasting headquarters in Memphis in late 2024, and it names its own roasters as handling wholesale orders. The original Anti Gentrification Cxffee Club is on Bowen Avenue in the 38122 ZIP code; a new flagship cafe opened in December 2025 in a restored building on Bowen Avenue near National Street in Mitchell Heights, steps from the original club (per the Daily Memphian). Cxffeeblack sells online, through a subscription box, and wholesale via Airgoods, and runs a Barista Exchange Program that in 2023 took four baristas to Ethiopia and Rwanda. Its site records a Global Notable Roaster of the Year honor at the 15th Sprudgie Awards.
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Midtown
Griffith Roasting Company
Griffith Roasting Company opened for business in December 2018, per its site, and roasts inside the Hi Tone music venue. Every order is roasted after it comes in, using what the site calls a low and slow method, and processed within five to seven business days. The catalog is split into signature roasts and hand-flavored coffees, and the site states its beans are organic and fair trade without naming a certifier. Griffith ships to all 50 states and offers pickup and contactless delivery in the Memphis metro area. There is no cafe.
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Southeast Memphis
J Brooks Coffee Roasters
J Brooks Coffee Roasters uses only specialty-grade Arabica, per its site, offered across three roast levels. Named single origins include Costa Rica, Brasil, Ethiopia, Organic Peru, and Colombian; named blends include Spirit of Memphis, Bootleg, Onyx, Old Country Espresso, Morning Mercy, Rubicon Espresso, True North, and Snowy Beale. J Brooks sells online with a free shipping threshold and single-serve JCups, and its team page lists two delivery drivers. Its Memphis facility also roasted and packaged Memphis Grindhouse's coffee at that brand's 2019 launch (per the Daily Memphian). The site does not print a street address.
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Memphis Grindhouse Coffee
Memphis Grindhouse was founded in 2019 in Memphis, per its site, and is at 3885 South Perkins Road, Suite 3. The site describes its coffee as locally roasted in small batches from specialty-grade Arabica imported from Peru, Guatemala, and Africa; at launch the coffee was roasted and packaged at J Brooks Coffee Roasters' Memphis facility (per the Daily Memphian). Named blends are Rock N' Roll (medium), Beale Street (light), Mighty Mississippi (dark), and the 901 Fund Charity Blend, and the site states that a portion of proceeds goes to Shelby County elementary schools. Grindhouse sells online, including a reusable K-Cup.
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Ramblin' Joe's Coffee
Ramblin' Joe's Coffee runs cafes with drive-thru service, offers free local pickup at 3588 Old Getwell Road, and delivers free within Memphis and surrounding areas, per its site. The company owns the Ugly Mug coffee brand, under which it operated for about twenty years before the 2022 rename (per the Memphis Flyer). Named coffees include Road Trip (light), Saving Grace (light to medium), Memphis Blues (medium), and Down Time (decaf), with flavored coffees sold in 2.5 pound bulk bags and syrups made in-house. Ramblin' Joe's sells online, wholesale, and through franchising; its site announced a five-store development agreement for Houston beginning in 2027. The site does not describe its roasting process or name a roastery.
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The Memphis orbit: Arlington
Ethnos Coffee Roasters
Ethnos Coffee Roasters was founded on March 2, 2019 by Kenny Baker, per its timeline page, and runs a coffee bar and roastery at 8817 Chaffee Road in Arlington. It has roasted on a Loring S7 Nighthawk since January 2023, when the roastery cafe opened, and was acquired by Coffee Central in 2023. Its named signature coffee is Honey Gold, and it sells subscriptions and wholesale. Ethnos's first collaboration coffee, in 2019, was made with Cxffeeblack and had its release party at Comeback Coffee.
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Coffee Memphis
Coffee Memphis describes itself as a locally owned Memphis-area coffee roaster in Arlington selling specialty-grade whole bean coffee, freshly roasted, for local pickup or shipping. The site asks customers outside Tennessee to contact it for purchasing options and gives no street address.
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What makes Memphis's roasting scene distinctive
The roasters do not share a street. Comeback is in the Pinch District, Cxffeeblack in Mitchell Heights, Griffith in Midtown inside the Hi Tone, and Grindhouse and Ramblin' Joe's in the 38118 ZIP code in southeast Memphis. No two listed roasters give addresses on the same street.
Two of the listed roasters do not run a cafe. Griffith roasts to order inside a music venue and ships; J Brooks sells online and by delivery. Comeback closed its cafe in 2025 and kept roasting and canning.
Roasting connections run between the businesses. J Brooks roasted Memphis Grindhouse's coffee at its 2019 launch, Ethnos's first collaboration coffee was with Cxffeeblack, and that coffee's release party was held at Comeback Coffee, all per the sources cited above.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many independent coffee roasters are in Memphis?
Roast Local lists 7 active independent coffee roasters under Memphis. This guide names the six whose own sites state what they sell and where: Comeback Coffee, Cxffeeblack, Griffith Roasting Company, J Brooks Coffee Roasters, Memphis Grindhouse, and Ramblin' Joe's. Ethnos and Coffee Memphis in Arlington are covered in the orbit section.
What is Memphis's oldest coffee roaster?
By stated founding year, Griffith Roasting Company, which its site says opened for business in December 2018. Comeback, Cxffeeblack, and Memphis Grindhouse all date to 2019. Ramblin' Joe's operated for about twenty years under the Ugly Mug name before its 2022 rename (per the Memphis Flyer).
Which Memphis coffee roasters ship?
Griffith ships to all 50 states. Comeback sells online nationwide and states that it stocks cafes and grocery stores across the US. Cxffeeblack, J Brooks, Memphis Grindhouse, and Ramblin' Joe's all run online shops, and Cxffeeblack offers a subscription box.
Which Memphis roasters have a cafe?
Cxffeeblack has its club and a flagship cafe on Bowen Avenue in Mitchell Heights. Ramblin' Joe's runs cafes with drive-thru service. Comeback's downtown cafe closed in March 2025; Griffith and J Brooks do not list a cafe. Ethnos runs a coffee bar at its Arlington roastery.
Last updated: September 2026